Newspapers / The University of North … / Jan. 28, 1920, edition 1 / Page 1
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The news in this publica tion is ^released for the press on receipt. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA l!Sf Em Published weekly by the University of North Carolina (or its Bureau of Extension. JANUARY 28, 1920 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. VOL. VI, NO. 10 Bdiiorial Board i E. 0. Branson, L. K. Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt. tr Entered as second-class matter November 14,1914, a? the Postofflee at Chapel Hill, N« C., und,er the act of August 24, 1913. FORWARD MARCH IN IOWA The last session of the Towa (ieneral Assembly has passed a minimum wage scale for teachers based on something like sanity and reason. The first item in this law provides that a teacher in the schools of Iowa who has completed a four-year college course, who has received a degree from an approved college, and who is the holder of a state certificate or a state diploma, must be paid a minimum salary per month of $100 until a successful teaching experience of two years in the public schools has been established, w'hereupon the mini mum becomes $120 a month. Those teachers who have less training are scaled down in proportion but even the holder of the lowest grade of certifi cate is to be paid a minimum of $50 per month. It ought to be possible under such an arrangement for Iowa to secure teachers who will do the children good instead of harm. The final goal after all is to do the most and best possible for the chil dren who are the seed corn of the next quarter century.—L. A. W. AYCOCK’S PROMISE On a hundred platforms, to lialf the voters of the state, in the late campaign, I pledged the state, its strength, its heart, its wealth, to universal education — I promised the illiterate poor man, bound to a life of toil and struggle and poverty, that life should be brighter for his boy and girl than it had been for him and the partner of his sorrows and joys. I pledg ed the wealth of the state to the educa tion of his children. Men of wealth, representatives of great corporations, ea gerly applauded my declaration—I have found no man who is unwilling to make the state stronger and better by liberal aid to the cause of education. For my part, I declare to you that it shall be my constant aim, during the four years that I shall endeavor to serve the people of this state, to redeem this most solemn of all our pledges.—Governor 0. B. Aycock. greed which mines the land or de-forests great regions, heedless of the rights of on coming generations, are specifically prpb- lems with which the state must deal. To be guilty of these practices is to be a bad citizen. To profess religion while follow ing such practices is at best but self-de lusion. Whatever may have been the chang ing phases of religious education in past periods, it seems clear tliat the crying need today is application. And in line with this the pupil who takes care of his liorse, cow, or poultry and comes to be lieve thafhib teacher in the church school regards such work well done as within the pale of religious education, will have dis covered a way of expressing his obedience to God in terms which are for him per- liaps more suitable than public prayer and testimony. The Country Home Very much should be made of the home, its manners, conversation, reading, hous ing, water supply, drainage, light, air, premises, outbuildings, barns, program, hospitality, family spirit, and mutual service. The attractiveness and conven ience of the house can so often be im proved at little cost, that what is most needed is not money, but rather the sug gestions and standards which the church school can persistently provide. If one may use the word culture to de note the spiritual values of life rather than veneer or snobbishness, and mean there by fine art of living at one’s best, then it becomes the task of the church school to bring this culture to those whose prosper ity as a class is bound to push them out into something either better or worse than their former state.—Allan Hoben, in Ru ral Manhood. THE CHURCH SCHOOL If the church is the champion of all that makes for abundant life and is eager for the realization of the Kingdom of God through all the cooperating agencies which serve or may serve that purpose, then she will be free from all jealousy of school and grange, lodge and club, and will seek earnestly to bring these to their higiiest excellence in the service of hu manity. Christian Citizenship The tendency to make the school the social center is very reasonable ,and log ical, and if people of various nationalities and faith can best express their demo cratic unity there, then the church will ■exert her full strength to secure civic gains througli that avenue. The strategic advantage of the church, however, in providing rural leadership is little ajtpreciated. By comparison with the teacher, the country pastor ranks very well in education, outlook upon the world, experience, aim, and tenure of position. Historically the country church and $kmday school have filled the place of social centers for the countryside rather i>8tter than any other institution. Here the country child finds himselt as a worker and as a worker together with God. But it is equally important that lie ]|ec ome a co-lahorer with liis fellows. The farmer's civic weakness consists in Ills pronounced individualism. By virtue of his occupation he is socially very in- d^S|eudi'ut. The major reforms of rural life wait upon his disposition to cooper ate,taiid the numerous small towns and vdlages of prosperous farming districts fand that the retired farmer is not usually public-spirited and progressive. Rural education for citizensliip must meet and overcome this prevalent tend ency, so deeply grounded in the occupa tion and mind of the farmer. Attempts to lift the Iiorizon of the adult will be less Bccc'isfut than socializing the child from the start. S The picnic.s, gala daj^s, and celebrations to have corporate rather than clan- sh or sectarian significance.' ^ Religion In Action H Itoligious standards of farming bear Rciy directly on good citizenship. The tooral profjleuas involved in the careless WILMINGTON’S NERVE If we can judge by a contract for a school house at Wilmington to cost $390,- 000 North Carolina has turned over a new leaf. A school house to run high above a third of a million dollars is a de cisive step forward in any community no bigger than Wilmington, but it shows that a new spirit has awakened and there is no reason to imagine that human in terest in Wilmington differs materially from any section in the State. That this feeling is not confined to one section of of the State is manifest by such move ments as that recently over in Winston- Salem wherein' a large fund was voted for a radical forward movement in school affairs. Similar evidences crop out in all quarters. The feature about the Wilmington con tract is the boldness of its forward ad vance. Wilmington miglit have gone ahead bitilding for next year or the year after, expecting to add little by little as the necessity compelled. Instead of that the courageous spirits having in hand the educational affairs of the community have provided means to bring the educa tional system at once up to the full re quirements that the present demands, and that can he anticipated for tlie fu ture. Wilmington means to have good schools. The rest of North Carolina will have an incentive from wliich we cannot get away. In doing herself a great bene- flt Wilmington has shown us all a new road to the place we know we want to go.—News and Observer. COLLEGE SALARIES They do not pay in this country—nor in any other—their professors or their university presidents enough. Perhaps it is because there are so many of them. At universities not perceptibly largef than Cambridge the teaching staff' is bigger than our whole electoral roll. The stipends of the teachers are as low as, in some cases even lower than, in Great Britain, and yet in normal times the (ypense of living is higher. Well, it is the old, old story: The cheapest thing going today, says the Sa tirist, is education. I pay my cook, said Crates, four pounds a year, but a philoso pher can be hired for about sixpence, and a tutor for three halfpence. So to day, writes Erasmus, a man stands aghast at the thought of paying for his boy’s education a sum which would hard ly buy a foal or hire a farm-servant. Fru gality ! It is another name for madness. —Arthur Everett Shipley, Vice Chancel lor of Cambridge University, England. A PRAYER FOR SCHOOLS Dr. Frank Crane 0 God, Thou hast put into our hands the future of the race. We are made co-workers with Thy spirit in creating the world that is to be. Thou ha.st put every new generation in the lap of the old, that there may be a continuity of growth. Awaken ua to our responsibility. Stir us up to our incomparable privi lege. Make keen within us the conviction that we have no work more vital to do than to teach. Reveal to us the school as the heart of the world’s work. Vast problems press upon us. The world is upturned. The masses seethe in the ferment of untried theories. Yet the way is simple. It lies through the child. The road to the Golden Age runs through the schoolhouse. There is no reform, however far- reaching, no establishment of justice, however revolutionary, that might not better be accomplished by patiepce through the instruction of the chil dren, than through the schemes of politics or the violence of war. Arms and disorder, destruction and overturning, are man’s way. The school is Thy way. Lay upon the conscience of every teacher the divinity of his employ. Give him the enthusiasm of his oppor tunity. Show him the beauty, the majesty of his calling, the marvel of his art, the proper pride of his crafts manship ! Make every parent realize that the best gift in his power for the child is the school 1 Lay deep in every child’s heart an unmistakable ambition to learn, to know, to come to mastery. And to unfold to us increasingly what education means! Shake from us the ghost grip of the past, the nar rowing hold of tradition, while we still preserve what is good. Deepen, broaden, enlarge, our con ception of the school. Make us glad to spend more for it, as the best of all in vestments for the security of the world. And show us that there can be no salvation for the race that does not first mean salvation for the child, by striking from his brain the chain of ignorance, from his heart the iron rim of superstition, and from his hand the curse of the unskilled. SCHOOLHOUSE AS CENTER The schoolhouse should be a social cen ter, a community capitol, from which should emanate everything of education al, social, and material betterment of the community, says the Virginia Coopera tive Educational Association.- What some of the Virginia community leagues are planning to do is sketched in the following outline: 1. Conducting active campaigns for so lution of the citizen’s leisure time prob lem. 2. Encouraging folk games and songs. 3. Giving constant attention to recrea tional and vocational work. 4. Uniting the young men of the com munity into an extensive program of athletics. 5. Establishing lyceum courses, band concerts, and community singing as com munity leisure time activities. 6. Organizing: group athletics, games, gymnastics, folk dances, and hikes for everybody. 7. Advocating gymnasiums, swimming pools, and auditoriums in every school building. 8. Promoting rural libraries and game rooms. 9. Establishing scholarships in honor of some world hero of the section. 10. Maintaining a community forum where the citizens can get together and discuss matters of school, health, roads, farming, juvenile delinquents, etc. THE CENTER OF THINGS The center of our civilization is the home, and if w'e make our homes bright and cheerful it necessarily follows that our civilization will be better and more ennobling. The bright and cheerful home not only brings happiness to those who enjoy its comforts but it also sheds its ra diance abroad, brightening and cheering and giving new hope to all those who come within reach'of its benign influence. -Prof. P. G. Holden. PUBLIC EDUCATION COSTS Elsewhere in this issue of the News I^etter appears a table ranking the states of the Union according to the percent of total state governmental costs that went for the support of public education in 1918. The states range all the way from New .lersey wliere 56.4 percent of all state governmental expenditures went to sup port public education, to 9.5 percent in Massachussets. The average for the coun try-at-large was 34 percent, which is just exactly the proportion for North Caro lina. In 1918 we paid out of our state treas ury $1,646,307 for the support of public education and libraries—for the support of our public schools, our state universi ty, the A. and E. College, and all other state-aided institutions of learning. Only two other southern states, Florida and t Louisiana, devoted a smaller percent of ! their total governmental costs to the sup- j port of public education. The ratio was larger in ten southern states. Our Policy is Wise The people of North Carolina have adopted a wise policy in raising funds with which to support public schools in the state. We have never relied mainly on the state to support elementary public schools as Georgia has done for long years. Nor do w'e lay upon local com munities the entire or aimost the entire burden of local school support as in Massachusetts. We have chosen a happy medium. The public schools of the state in 1918 received 16.5 percent of their funds from the state treasury. In other words, the state, upon an average, contributed as a per capita and equalizing fund one dol lar for every five dollars locally raised. This means that in order to have good schools, a county or community in North Carolina must have local pride in its schools. The local district must build and support its own schools for the most part, being aided from the state fund only where the district is too poor to sup port good schools. The local district in North Carolina can not afford to wait for the state to contrib ute most of its school fund as in Georgia where the state until recently has con tributed upon an average two or three dollars for every dollar locally raised. A policy of this sort tempts a community to sit tight and let the legislature appro priate a lump sum just large enough to keep schools alive and too small to sup port good schools. Under such a plan local interest, pride, and initiative are re duced to a minimum. The other -extreme is exemplified by Massachusetts, which lays upon local com munities almost the entire burden of pub lic school support. And this is pot entirely unwise in Massachusetts with its ten bil lions of taxable wealth, for practically every town in the state is rich enough to support its own schools. For every nine dollars locally raised in Massachusetts the state contribute^one dollar. This plan would be unwise in North Carolina, because unlike Massachusetts, W'e have many communities w'hich are far too poor to raise sufficient funds by local tax levies to support adequate public schools. V A Further Comparison In 1918 North Carolina paid out of its treasury $1,646,307 for the support of public education. The total wealth on our tax books at that time was only $942,766,000. This means that the state contributed for public education 17.5 cents for every $100 of taxables. In Massachusetts the state paid for pub lic education only 5 cents on the hundred dollars of taxable wealth. This is less than one-third the rate of our state. The state fund for public schools in Massachusetts was less than $300,000; but the local fund was 26 millions. Her state fund was about one-fifth of ours, but her local fund was five times larger than ours. In Geor gia, which was a third wealthier than North Carolina in taxables in 1918, 44 cents on the $100 of taxable wealth went out of the state treasury for the support of public schools. The state rate on the $100 in Georgia was more than twice as high for public schools as in North Carolina and nine times as high as in Massachusetts! This accounts for the fact that 137 out of 148 counties in Georgia received from the state treasury in 1910 more money in school funds and pensions than these counties paid into the state treasury in taxes of all sorts. In North Carolina there were only 11 such pauper counties. These counties were relatively poor. Or worse still, they were poverty stricken in spirit and returned their properties for taxation at a pin’s fee, or refused to levy local school taxes bravely. Massachusetts and Georgia represent two extremes in the state support of pub lic education, w'ith the argument in favor of IMassachusetts. North Carolina occu pies a w'isely chosen middle ground. She is not a wealthy state in comparison with Massachusetts, and she has adopted a policy that encourages and stimulates lo cal activity and interest in schools in ev ery community. The state willingly helps those districts that are too poor to afford good schools—not enough to pauperize local communities, but just enough to tempt them into activity in behalf of bet ter school facilities. In North Carolina, community schools are excellent or poor according to local wealth and willingness or unwillingness, local pride, initiative, and self-sacrifice, local intelligence or stupidity and uncon cern. And so it righteously ought to be. AVe have areas of little wealth arid great willingness, as in Dare where every school district but one levies a local school tax; but alas we also have areas of great wealth and little willingness, as in Alleghany, where only two of the 39 white districts levy local taxes for better schools. There are ten other such counties in this rich corner of the state—counties that get out of the state treasury in pensions aird school funds more than all the state taxes they pay.—S. H. H., Jr. STATE EXPENDITURES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION Per Cent of Total Governmental Costs Covering the Tear 1918. Based on a Federal Census Bureau Bulletin, The Finan cial Statistics of States, dated April 1919. S. H. HOBBS, Jr. University of North Carolina, 1919. the United States 34 Percent Rank State ' Percent Average for Rank State Percent 1 New Jersey 56.4 2 Texas 56^ 3 Utah 53 3 AVashington 53,1 5 Mississippi 52.1 6 Georgia... 51 7 Arizona 50.1 8 North Dakota 49,5 9 California 46.9 10 South Dakota 45 11 Oklahoma 45 12 ATrginia 44.9 13 AVisconsin 44,5 13 Michigan 44.5 15 Nebraska 44,4 16 Kansas 43.3 17 Alabama 42,9 18 Indiana 42.5 19 Arkansas 42.4 20 New Mexico 42.3 21 Delaware 41.7 22 Kentucky 41.4 23 Idaho.’ 40.8 24 West Virginia 39.5 25 26 27 28 29 29- 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 47 47 48 Nevada 39.3 Minnesota ; 37.6 Maine 37.3. Missouri 35.4 Montana 35.5 South Carolina 35.5 Oregon 34;g North Carolina 34 AVyoming 32.6 Illinois 31.6 Tennessee 30.2 Colorado 29.8 Ohio 29.7 Louisiana 28.2 Iowa 27.3 Maryland 26.2 Atermont 23.3 New York 18.2 Connecticut... 17.6 Florida I6.5 New Hampshire 16.2 Pennsylvania I5.8 Rhode Island 12.5 Massachusetts 9,5
The University of North Carolina News Letter (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 28, 1920, edition 1
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